Have you had any experience with the Jan-Pro franchise (or similar company)? Please share a comment below.
Jan-Pro is a commercial cleaning company that claims to be Entrepreneur magazine’s #1 Fastest Growing Franchise in 2008 & 2009. According to Entrepreneur, there are currently more than 8100 Jan-Pro franchises in the U.S. The franchise investment ranges from $3,300 to $54,300.
According to the Jan-Pro website, “The JAN-PRO® Franchise System is structured around the Master Franchise Concept. This concept takes advantage of a decentralized structure where each Master Franchise Owner acts as the Regional Franchisor in their exclusive market.”
So, Jan-Pro “Master” franchisees sell “Unit” franchises and support the “Unit” franchisees in their territories. “Unit Franchisees” do the actual cleaning of buildings, and are supplied with cleaning jobs from their Master. According to JAN-PRO “Unit franchisees are assigned their first customers once they have completed training. JAN-PRO® staff will be there to provide assistance every step of the way, designing a complete work schedule and teaching how to complete each task in a proper and timely manner.”
According to the JAN-PRO® website:
When you become a Unit Franchisee with JAN-PRO, you will enjoy:
– Support from your regional master franchise office.
– A steady income stream. You’ll receive monthly income from the customers provided to you by your master franchise owner, without the expense of an accounting system and the worry of collecting the receivables.
– The benefits of a recognized name. According to 2008 Entrepreneur Magazine, the #1 Fastest Growing Franchise overall. Most building owners and managers prefer working with a larger company that has a good reputation, excellent references, and professional customer support and service.
– Professional relations. Quality control, customer account inspections and customer support are provided by our specially trained technicians.
– Unlimited growth potential. Additional customer accounts will be provided to build your business at a pace that meets your need
However, messages left by commenters alleging to be JAN-PRO unit franchisees claim that JAN-PRO Master Franchisees failed to provide the required cleaning jobs, and then refused to honor their guarantees.
Recently, Tryingtomake it wrote on ComplaintsBoard.com:
I purchased a franchise with Jan Pro. I’ve been with them for almost a year. My husband had to go there and threaten them to get the first account. I had to hound them for months to get the second one. They keep giving me accounts where the people are pissed off and it takes us months to get them where we want them. They still have to give me one more account and I will hound them until they do.
By the way did I mention that even after you get all your account you will sill not make enough money because you WILL have to pay someone to help with the cleaning since they seem to bid extremely low so by the time you finish paying the royalty fees and your employees, you don’t have any money left to even buy yourself a soda. Personally I think its a scam. They most probably charge more to the client that what they led us to believe.
I have no one to blame but myself for not fully researching this before buying into it. Oh well live and learn. For anyone out there thinking on doing business with the Jan Pro. Think twice. One lady took the manager and pinned him to the wall (she got her money back)
krussi wrote:
we purchased a franchise a little over one year ago. We received accounts from another franchisee as you state for people who are not happy. They are suppose to fill the franchise within 120 days according to our franchise agreement or return the franchise fee. After one year we only were half full.
We decided to enforce the 120 days and gave them notice, they say they offered us enough to fill the franchise, it our word against theirs, they will not return our franchise fee. As you stated the only way to make any money is to clean them all yourself. I too think this is a scam. They did not fill our accounts but we find out that the guy taking our accounts just bought his franchise two months ago; they cannot fill ours but take someone elses money.
Has anyone else out there taken them to Court and won? There was a case in 2004 Guzman vs. Jan Pro. I spoke with Guzman’s lawyer, I wish I would have researched more fully as well because Mr. Guzman had the same issues and he won. His lawyer told me to get out as fast as you can… I will pursue getting my money back, this is fraud.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? IS JAN-PRO A SCAM? DO EXPERIENCES VARY BY MASTER FRANCHISE TERRITORY? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
This post was originally published April 19, 2009. Some comments were lossed due to computer error. If you with to contact site admin, email UnhappyFranchisee[at]gmail.com.
N LYNN on April 26th, 2009 5:09 pm wrote:
We have an account we no longer wish to service – it doesn’t pay enough for all the work required.
We gave them notice that we would no longer be working that account, but they say we can’t quit it until they find someone to fill it. I don’t think they are trying very hard.
I don’t see anything about timeframes on our paperwork – how long do you think we are obligated to work this account?
guest on April 28th, 2009 11:20 am wrote:
I’m thinking about getting into this business. Can anyone comment on how well they are doing?
michael on April 29th, 2009 11:12 pm wrote:
if you need help let me know i can help i was hands on for so called jan pro
READ MORE ON JAN_PRO:
JAN-PRO Franchise Complaints August 11, 2009
JAN-PRO: Janitorial Franchise Warning October 14, 2009
JAN-PRO UnhappyFranchisee.com Responds to Jan-Pro Threat December 27, 2011
JAN-PRO Threatens UnhappyFranchisee.com December 27, 2011
Commercial Cleaning Franchises: 10 Reasons to NOT Buy One February 25, 2010
FTC’s Janitorial Franchise Buyer’s Guide October 14, 2009
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View Comments
I recently went to Unhappy Franchisee and saw that there were several negative reviews concerning Jan-Pro Northern New Jersey. Most of these reviews date back to 2009 and are no longer relevant and contrary to the most recent comment, we have plenty of work to distribute to new and existing Franchisee's. Note: the comments listed above are not from Franchisee's of Jan-Pro Northern New Jersey.
My wife and I bought this company in late 2015 and we very much care about our Franchisee’s and we are dedicated to helping them succeed. Since taking over the company we have replaced the existing staff with caring, professional and dedicated individuals that are focused on service, training and growth of the organization, while supporting the Franchisee. We believe that a happy and successful Franchisee, will only make our company better and stronger. Check out our website http://northernnewjersey.jan-pro.com to see that we are Franchisee focused and note that October 8th, 2016 we are hosting a Franchisee Appreciation Day at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Fairfield NJ. I do hope you will post some of my comments as we are truly a new Jan-Pro Northern New Jersey and look forward to helping Franchisees reach their goals, while providing superior service to our clients.
Sincerely,
David Carson
President, Jan-Pro Northern NJ
Jan pro is a scam the master franchise owners get rich by taking your money and giving you the run around. I purchased a account from Phill and Tuck and was extremely disappointed. It's been times when I didn't get my check from them in months and those guy's are not buisness men they are master scammers! Once you give your money to them everything will change. I recommended so many people to those guys and everyone had the same problems. They want you to pay them to work for them. Your not a sub contractor your an employee of them with no rights. My brother was even sued by them . Ps their devil's
Jan Pro is a Rip off Company they lie and they make you Thank you go be making so much money and it’s a lie . I worked my self to the bone For then . I always had 10 ratings for cleaning and was with them for 2 years and didn’t even bring home over $116 dollar amount . Jan Pro was taking all these fees out on me and I cap telling them I didn’t understand how there company works . They tell you what you won’t to here and when they get your money and get your and get you to sign the paper work . Then a lot of stuff start being twisted and they become heartless and I Thank it’s so wrong for Jan Pro to do this to people . I took my last Thanking that ever thing I had to say was true and trusted Avery thing they had Jan Pro had to say . They New that Cleaning was new for me and they took A vantage of that and that’s so wrong . I had to lean as I worked how thing really is with Jan pro . I will never make that mastake again .
Couple of my friends and i just looked into this and thought it was a good idea until i came across these comments and read up on past experiences. Anyone out there that would want to have a quick phone call/email to talk about what happen vs. what we should look out for? ([REDACTED]) is my e-mail please reach out!!!!!! ASAP.... there is a 20% off total investment promotion if we sign in 2018 which we would like to utilize before time runs out.
NOTE: Sorry, Jigar, we don't allow personal contact information in the comment section ADMIN
I bought a Jan-Pro "franchise" in South Carolina many years ago, when the truth about franchises was not as well know as it is today. They low-balled every bid to bring in customers and then sold those "accounts" to their franchisees. The actual time it took to clean the jobs was always way more than I was told. After doing the math, I saw that I was making about the same pay as any other standard low-skill job. When I reduced the work time on each job in order to raise my pay, the customer inevitably complained, and Jan-Pro would seize the account, claiming that I had violated franchise policy. Then they took the account, re-sold it to another mark, and did the same to them. After six months of this, I confronted the owner angrily and got most of my money back. Steer clear of Jan-Pro.
I bought a franchise in western Canada. 1st off they never got me the desired amount of accounts I had paid for
2.the pricing on the accounts they did get was ridiculous. One of the accounts went in-house for financial reasons and that was pretty much it. They never offered to get me any new accounts or anything. Waste of time and money. I dont recommend dealing with them. Oh and they take 20% of gross revenue so your basically getting minimum wage. Great business model if you're the master franchisee but not for anyone else.